Coral reefs have long been celebrated as biodiversity hotspots – but new research shows they have also played a much deeper role: conducting the rhythm of Earth’s carbon and climate […]
PNAS
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Fossils & Paleontology, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering
Mapping Mars’ Large River Drainage Systems For The First Time
Billions of years ago, it rained on Mars. The water collected in valleys and rivers, filled and spilled over the rims of craters, and was funneled into canyons, perhaps even […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
Prebiotic Organic Compounds In Samples Of Asteroid Bennu Indicate Heterogeneous Aqueous Alteration
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission characterized the asteroid Bennu and delivered pristine samples of its regolith to Earth.
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
Organic Geochemical Evidence For Life In Archean Rocks Identified By Pyrolysis–GC–MS and Supervised Machine Learning
Significance Teasing out biochemical information from ancient organic-rich sediments, notably the timing of the emergence of photosynthesis relative to the inferred oxygenation of Earth’s atmosphere, remains a challenging opportunity. To […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The First Animals On Earth May Have Been Sea Sponges, Study Suggests
A team of MIT geochemists has unearthed new evidence in very old rocks suggesting that some of the first animals on Earth were likely ancestors of the modern sea sponge.
Posted inBiophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Radiation, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
Ultraviolet And Biological Effective Dose Observations At Gale Crater, Mars
The incident ultraviolet (UV) irradiance on the surface of Mars is strongly sterilizing and plays a critical role in atmospheric and near-surface photochemistry.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Four-million-year Marinoan Snowball Shows Multiple Routes To Deglaciation
Twice during the Neoproterozoic Era, Earth experienced runaway ice-albedo catastrophes that resulted in multimillion year, low-latitude glaciations: the Sturtian and Marinoan snowball Earths.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Origin & Evolution of Life, Panspermia, Status Report
Abiotic Origin Of Citric Acid Cycle Intermediates
The molecular framework for protometabolism—chemical reactions in a prebiotic environment preceding modern metabolism—has remained unknown in evolutionary biology. Mono-, di-, and tricarboxylic acids that comprise contemporary metabolism, such as the […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Extinction events, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Hematite U-Pb Dating Of Snowball Earth Meltwater Events
The Snowball Earth hypothesis predicts global ice cover; however, previous descriptions of Cryogenian (720-635 Ma) glacial deposits are limited to continental margins and shallow marine basins.
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Impact events, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report
Effect Of A Giant Meteorite Impact On Paleoarchean Surface Environments And Life
Large meteorite impacts must have strongly affected the habitability of the early Earth. Rocks of the Archean Eon record at least 16 major impact events, involving bolides larger than 10 […]